A large number of baskets are available in the market meant for use in supermarkets or self-service shops for customers to carry the items to the check-out boxes where they are paid for.
These baskets normally replace the conventional metal carts with wheels when no more are available, when the customer intends to purchase a small number of items that do not require using said cart or when the characteristics of the shop make it impossible to use said carts.
In these cases, the baskets conventionally used are embodied as containers generally made of lightweight yet strong plastic provided with one or more handles that allow the user to carry them about the premises and place the items in them. These handles are incorporated in the structure of the basket, so that they are not an obstacle when stacking them, as in the case of Utility Model U8601633, held by the present applicant, U9400303, U9502610, or application WO 98/13269.
However, this type of basket has the main drawback of having to be carried when placing a large number of items in it, which generally implies an excessive weight that can exceed 20 kilograms. This is not only uncomfortable for the user, particularly for the elderly, but also a safety problem as it can lead to injuries from overexertion or accidental impacts or falling items.
To solve this problem, baskets have been developed that on one hand allow stacking and on another a more comfortable use, as in the case of patent EP 1407956 relating to a basket which, in addition to the typical handles used to carry the basket in a known manner, has a traction handle and wheels allowing the basket to rest on the floor and be carried without having to lift it off the ground.
This system, although it solves the problem of the user having to lift the weight of the items, has significant drawbacks such as the handle size being determined by that of the basket, as it must be integrated in the frame do that stacking is not prevented, meaning that the handle will be the same for all users, or in other words that the length of this handle cannot be adapted to the height and physical characteristics of the user, so that for many users the handle will be too long or too short. In this way, if different baskets were manufactured to provide different handle lengths to adapt to various users, the dimensions of these baskets would be determined by those of the handle, as baskets with short handles for short customers must also be small to be able to house such a handle, while if baskets are made with longer handles for taller customers these will be larger. This would obviously imply the need to manufacture baskets with different sizes to satisfy the needs of different types of users, resulting in an excessive cost of the service.
These baskets also have an added drawback regarding the lack of hygiene. Indeed, the construction characteristics of the baskets mean that when they are stacked their wheels are housed in the area intended for the items of the basket immediately below, so that the dirt accumulated in the wheels and the shaft joining these as the basket is rolled on the supermarket floor will either be in contact with the inner base of the basket or will fall from the wheel or the shaft, ending on said base. The dirt in these baskets will result in their rejection by the users, as they will avoid using them when they are dirty in view of the type of products to be housed in them, generally food items.